Obama, Romney spar over Afghanistan … Akin flap could shake up defense … The juice: Who will take over HASC's seapower subcommittee?

BREAKING -- Via the AP: “Militants fired rockets into a U.S. base in Afghanistan and damaged the plane of the chairman of the U.S. joint chiefs of staff while he was on a visit, but the general was not near the aircraft, a spokesman for the U.S.-led military coalition said.” http://politi.co/QVyR9p

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DEFENSE ISSUES BUBBLED TO THE TOP YESTERDAY as Obama sparred with Romney and congressional Republicans over Afghanistan and sequestration.

On Afghanistan, the president decried the rise of insider attacks against coalition troops, telling reporters at a press briefing, “We’ve got to make sure that we’re on top of this.” Obama laid out the Pentagon’s plan to curb “green on blue” attacks -- which includes better counterintelligence, a stronger vetting process for Afghan troops and a “guardian angel” program in which a coalition service member stands watch during meetings between NATO and Afghan troops.

The big picture: Obama’s strategy for pulling U.S. troops out of Afghanistan depends on cooperation between the Afghan army and coalition troops, whose mission is to train the Afghans to protect the country on their own. That strategy is imperiled by this year’s 32 incidents of Afghan soldiers and police turning their weapons against their NATO counterparts. “In the long term, we will see fewer U.S. casualties and coalition casualties by sticking to our transition plan and making sure that we have the most effective Afghan security force possible,” Obama said. “But we’ve got to do it in a way that doesn’t leave our guys vulnerable.”

Prior to Obama’s press conference, Romney slammed him for failing to communicate with the public about the war. “When our men and women are in harm’s way, I expect the president of the United States to address the nation on a regular basis and explain what’s happening and why they’re there,” Romney said at a town hall meeting in New Hampshire.

The back-and-forth between the two presidential campaigns quickly devolved into petty sniping among surrogates for both candidates, with the Obama camp demanding to see Romney’s “secret plan” for Afghanistan:

-- Obama spokeswoman Lis Smith, in a statement: “If [Romney] does have some secret plan, he owes it to our men and women in uniform to tell them.”

-- Romney spokesperson Andrea Saul, in an email: “If we did have a so-called ‘secret plan,’ the Obama Administration would just leak it.”

MORE ‘GREEN ON BLUE’ HASC HEARINGS? On Capitol Hill, Rep. Duncan Hunter urged McKeon to schedule hearings on insider attacks. In response, McKeon spokesman Claude Chafin noted that the committee has already held two hearings to examine the rise of “green on blue” killings in Afghanistan. “While the committee has not announced our hearing schedule for the fall, this is an issue that has commanded significant attention this year,” Chafin said. “The Committee included a number of ‘green on blue’ provisions in this year’s NDAA, which Chairman McKeon hopes the Senate will act on in the near future.”

He added: “None of this should be considered the final word on this troubling trend, but part [of] our ongoing effort to help manage the risks our war fighters face in Afghanistan.”

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ON SEQUESTRATION, OBAMA LASHED OUT AT REPUBLICANS, saying their intransigence on tax cuts is what’s causing the current gridlock in Congress. In a one-on-one interview with Norfolk’s Virginian-Pilot newspaper, the president said a deal to avert the looming budget reductions would have to include both spending cuts and new revenues. “The only thing that’s standing in the way of us solving this problem right now is the unwillingness of some members of Congress to ask people like me -- people who’ve done very well, millionaires, billionaires -- to pay a little bit more, in part, to preserve the freedoms that we hold dear,” Obama said.

-- McKeon, in a statement to Morning D: “House Republicans have acted to pay for next year’s cuts. I hope that the president is serious about coming to the table, and I hope he brings Senator Reid and a credible plan with him when he does.”

-- McCain and Ayotte, in a joint statement: “The responsibility to avert this crisis is shared, and the time to negotiate a solution is now -- not after the November election. Among our biggest obstacles to doing so is the president’s failure to lead.”

MEANWHILE, A BLAST FROM THE PAST -- For the record, former HASC Chairman Ike Skelton of Missouri also opposes sequestration, he wrote in the Springfield, Mo. News-Leader. But, he doesn’t think the looming budget reductions will actually take effect.

“Taxpayers will get less for their dollar and troops will get less -- period. As a cost-saving measure, sequestration is like a shortcut that ends up taking twice as long,” Skelton wrote. “I have every confidence that cooler heads will soon prevail, and that Congress will reach a historic compromise that will save us from the blind budget cuts no one really wants.” http://sgfnow.co/ORHI0L

TRIVIA TIME -- On this day in 1959, Hawaii officially became the 50th state, with President Eisenhower signing a proclamation admitting Hawaii into the Union. On which Hawaiian island is the famous Pearl Harbor naval base located? For the answer, read on.

TODD AKIN RAPE FLAP COULD SHAKE UP DEFENSE -- The Missouri Republican is running against Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill in a race that pits two defense subcommittee chairs against each other. And Akin’s statement on Sunday that victims of “legitimate rape” rarely get pregnant as a result of their attacks -- and as such don’t need access to abortion services -- has drawn bipartisan condemnation that could boost McCaskill’s efforts to retain her seat.

In short, the outcome of the race could mean the difference between a Missouri senator who has viewed Pentagon spending with suspicion and one who has supported efforts to protect the Defense Department from the budget ax while cutting funding for just about everything else. But on defense issues that affect Missouri, Akin and McCaskill are on the same page: Both have worked to steer Pentagon contracts to the state, seeking increased funding for Boeing’s F/A-18E and F Super Hornet, a fighter jet built largely at the company’s facilities there.

Of the two, Akin appears to be the industry favorite. He has received $108,700 from defense contractors this election cycle, compared to $63,050 for McCaskill, according to a Center for Responsive Politics analysis of contributions from political action committees and individual donors.

THE JUICE: WHO WILL TAKE OVER THE SEAPOWER SUBCOMMITTEE? In addition to a possible Senate shakeup, Akin’s departure from the House could result in big changes for the HASC. Akin serves as the chairman of the Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee. And the next Republican in line for that post is Duncan Hunter, though it’s unclear whether he would get the job.

Hunter, who’s been eyeing the subcommittee chairmanship, has bucked his party on a number of key issues affecting the Navy. For example, he’s been highly critical of the Littoral Combat Ship and other key acquisitions programs. “He believes very firmly that we have to get back to the basics,” his spokesman, Joe Kasper, tells Morning D. “We have to get back to a Navy that has the right number of ships rather than these futuristic platforms that seem to be plagued with problems.”

TOP TWEET -- Public Policy Polling: “75% of Missouri voters think Akin’s comments were inappropriate, but they’re still voting along party lines.” @ppppolls

THE OSPREY CRASH: THE MARINES DIDN’T CALL IT ‘PILOT ERROR’ -- April’s crash of an MV-22 Osprey in Morocco wasn’t all its pilots’ fault, although DOD officials have been eager to affirm there are no problems with the big birds themselves. Lt. Gen. Robert Schmidle told reporters Friday that as the Osprey in question was taking off, it turned with a strong tailwind, which unexpectedly pushed down its nose and caused the accident. But another Osprey ahead of the aircraft that crashed had just done the same thing with no problem. So what gives?

“You can have something occur one minute and do exactly the same thing, and two minutes later, like hitting a tennis ball, and it doesn’t work the way it did the first time,” Schmidle said.

In other words, stuff happens, to borrow a phrase from another place and time. The new question is, does it help or hurt DOD’s Osprey sales pitch in Japan to acknowledge that it’s subject to occasional mishaps just as much as a traditional aircraft? Maybe that will have no effect: what goes up, after all, must come down. DOD insists that the Osprey has proven its safety time and again, but the aircraft are under a microscope and will likely be subject to more skepticism.

The bottom line: The Ospreys out there are going to fly -- the only question is how happy or unhappy that makes the Marines’ Japanese hosts.

PIVOT TO SYRIA, WHERE THE USE OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS WOULD BE A ‘RED LINE’ for the United States, Obama told reporters at the White House yesterday. “I have, at this point, not ordered military engagement in the situation,” the president said. “But the point that you made about chemical and biological weapons is critical. That’s an issue that doesn’t just concern Syria; it concerns our close allies in the region, including Israel. It concerns us.”

Morning D cynicism: The danger here is that “red lines” work both ways -- Damascus could read Obama’s comments backward, understanding the president to say: “You can get away with anything you want so long as you don’t touch the chemical weapons.” Given the lack of Western political will to get more than indirectly involved with the conflict, that could mean still more violence and destruction in Syria.

WHERE IN THE WORLD: FOR DEMPSEY, A MEETING WITH IRAQ’S PRIME MINISTER IS HARD TO COME BY -- Following his trip to Afghanistan, Dempsey is heading to Iraq to “check the status of security cooperation between the United States and Iraq,” according to a DOD press release that included this tidbit, buried about halfway down:

“The chairman said he may or may not meet with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. ‘If I do I will take the opportunity to renew my friendship with him, but also get his insights on Syria,’ he said. ‘We’ll see how that goes.’”

COMING ATTRACTIONS: OBAMA, ROMNEY TO ADDRESS AMERICAN LEGION -- The veterans group has landed some big names for its 94th national convention, which is being held in Indianapolis. Speakers include Obama (Aug. 28, by video), Romney (Aug. 29), Shinseki (Aug. 28), Air Force Chief of Staff Mark Welsh (Aug. 30) and former HASC Chairman Ike Skelton (Aug. 27).

R.I.P.: ONE OF THE ORIGINAL TUSKEGEE AIRMEN DIED ON SUNDAY -- George Hickman, one of the country’s first black military pilots, died this weekend at the age of 88. Hickman was also a longtime usher at University of Washington and Seattle Seahawks games. The AP has more: http://bit.ly/OHADu8

TRIVIA ANSWER -- The Pearl Harbor naval base is located on the Hawaiian island of O’ahu. From the History channel’s website:

“During World War II, Hawaii became firmly ensconced in the American national identity following the surprise Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. In March 1959, the U.S. government approved statehood for Hawaii, and in June the Hawaiian people voted by a wide majority to accept admittance into the United States. Two months later, Hawaii officially became the 50th state.” http://bit.ly/PBpoXX

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Authors:

About The Author

Austin Wright is a senior defense reporter based at the Pentagon covering budget, policy and national security issues. He has been with POLITICO since 2011 and was previously a web producer and author of the widely read newsletter Morning Defense.

Before POLITICO, Wright worked for National Defense magazine, interned at The Chronicle of Higher Education and taught sixth-grade English at Kramer Middle School in Washington.

Wright hails from Richmond, Va., and graduated in 2009 from the College of William and Mary, where he was editor of the student newspaper, The Flat Hat. He lives in Northern Virginia with his wife, Leanne, and their dog, Kernel.